HH01 - A Humble Heart (28 page)

is trying to stop them, but it’s not working.” He felt an arm wrap around his neck. “Hurry!”

“Sir, I have a unit close by.”

“Unit? You’ll need more than that…..get your hands off her!” he yelled, dropping his phone. Girls were trying to grab

Dana. He moved back towards her. Someone jumped on his back and was holding onto him. He felt a wet kiss on his neck.

Girls were grabbing at him, trying to pull him away from Dana.

Dana turned around and was gently pulling girls off of both of them. “You girls need to calm down. Relax,” she said

firmly yet gently.

They were suddenly pulled down to the ground. Dana was pulled away from him. He struggled to go after her. Girls were

holding her down and attacking her. He saw girls trying to kick her in the stomach. She instinctively rolled over into a ball.

“Get away from her!” he roared. He pushed girls off him roughly and pushed through the crowd, throwing girls to the side.

He grabbed the girl that was kicking Dana by the back of the neck and pulled her off, throwing her to the ground. He bent down

and picked Dana up. She was bleeding from the mouth.

“Oh shit. Baby, are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I blocked the kicks.” He held her like a baby in his arms. They were moving back towards them. “Get away

now!” he yelled.

They continued to move. “Back off now!” a man suddenly yelled. Edward turned to see several officers pushing their way

through the crowd. They pushed the screaming girls to the side until they reached Edward and Dana.

“Come with me!” the officer yelled over the girls' screams.

Several hands grabbed onto him again, making him stumble back. An officer turned around and had the presence of mind

to hold out his arms. He grabbed Dana and carried her to safety. Edward fought against the holds. Several officers entered the

theatre carrying riot shields and night sticks. It disgusted Edward to think it came to this where he couldn’t take his future wife

out for a movie without getting attacked.

An officer gripped his arm and pulled him out of the theatre. It took several minutes, because the girls refused to release

him. They were still screaming his name when the door shut behind him.

He looked around for Dana and found her standing in front of an ambulance, being cleaned up. Edward made a bee line

for her. He dropped to his knees in front of her and pushed up her shirt to reveal her stomach. He ran a trembling hand over it.

“I didn’t let them kick my stomach, Edward. The babies are okay,” she said, soothing him. She ran a hand through his

messy hair. Edward pressed a kiss to her stomach and stood up, taking her into his arms.

“Sir, we need to talk,” an older officer said. He realized this was the officer that carried Dana out.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” Edward said.

“Not a problem,” the officer said and then his face softened. “I’m a huge fan of your books, ma’am.”

“Thank you, officer, for all your help,” she said. Edward felt her shaking against him.

“With your level of fame, your impending nuptials, and her pregnancy not to mention more children at home, I’m going to

suggest that you hire security. Neither one of you should be in public without it, especially this young lady.”

“I couldn’t agree more, sir,” Edward said. “I’m going to arrange for it immediately.”

“I would say two security members should be enough. Check their training thoroughly before you hire anyone,” the officer

said.

“Thank you, sir.”

A young officer ran towards them carrying a crushed phone. “Is this yours?”

“Yes.” Edward reached out and took the phone. “Well, it was.”

“Look, I need to get you two out of here, because those girls in there are still hysterical,” the young officer said.

Edward nodded. He put his arm around Dana and led her to the car. They received a police escort home. As soon as they

were in the house they called the parents that were watching their children, making sure the kids were okay. Thankfully the

paparazzi weren’t interested in the kids at the moment.

Dana sat on the couch and closed her eyes while Edward made phone calls. He called Eric who promised to hire security

for both of them, because they decided to do the movie. They had three days to go through the script.

She heard Edward walk into the room, but didn’t open her eyes. He placed a tray of snacks he made on the coffee table.

Edward picked one of her favorite movies from their collection and popped it into the DVD player.

He sat down near her and gently pulled her down so that she was on her side with her head resting on his lap. The movie

began and Dana fell asleep with Edward gently rubbing her back.

She snuggled into his leg. Edward watched her for a long time. This beautiful woman was sticking by him. She gave him a

family, love, and understanding. From day one she treated him like a regular guy. It made his heart swell.

If possible he loved her even more. She was carrying his children and sticking by him through everything. Neither one of

them would ever lead a normal life now. It was impossible, but they were staying together. It made this situation livable. He

promised himself their children would lead normal lives. Exhaustion finally caught up with him. He let his head drop back and

allowed himself to drift off.

Dana woke up when she heard a strange sawing noise. She looked up to see it was coming from Edward. She sat up and

stretched. Her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t eaten since that snack she had when she was cleaning earlier.

The snacks Edward fixed looked good, but she wanted something heartier. She quietly moved through the house towards

the kitchen. One look at the clock had her sighing. It was only ten thirty at night. The last couple of days, hell, weeks had been

so exhausting. Poor Edward, he was taking the brunt of everything on his shoulders.

He was taking care of her, the kids, the house, moving by himself, plus his usual hectic schedule. Since he came home he

hadn’t had a guy's night out. She was going to change that. Tomorrow night she was pushing him out of the house. He needed

that, deserved it.

She looked at the calendar. Tomorrow was Friday, a good day for him to get out and unwind and then he could have the

guys over sometime this weekend for a game. She was sure there would be a game on of some sporting event. She wrote up a

list of food to pick up. She would make a huge spread for the guys and take the kids out to a water park or something with

Deana’s help and hopefully some security.

The phone rang. She ran over to it, wishing it to quiet down so it wouldn’t wake up Edward. “Shh, I’m coming,” she

hissed at the phone. She picked up the phone on the third ring to the sound of a little girl screaming in the background.

“Hello?” she answered, wondering if it was a prank call.

“Dana? It’s Jim.”

“Hey, Jim, is everything okay? Is Cole okay?” Dana asked. Clearly Jim’s daughter Beth wasn’t okay from the sound of it.

“I’m afraid Beth got a little scared when the cat ran under her bed. She thinks it was a monster and we can’t convince her

otherwise. Poor Cole is being such a good sport, but we’re thinking we should bring him home. Beth isn’t going to calm down

anytime soon.”

“I’ll come get him. I could use a good walk,” Dana said.

“Are you sure?” Jim asked.

“It’s no problem, Jim. I’ll be there in a few.”

“Okay, see you then.” Jim hung up.

Dana scribbled a note. She walked into the living room and placed the note on the cushion next to Edward. She leaned in

and kissed his chin. He stirred slightly, but continued to snore.

She grabbed her cell phone and keys and headed out the door. Of course the media was still set up in front of her house.

She was tempted to get in her car, but that would be pointless since they would probably just block her. It was only four houses

down. She could be there and back in less than ten minutes.

“Dana, are you leaving Edward?” a man yelled.

Cameras were pointed at her and clicking away rapidly, their bright flashes blinding her. She lowered her eyes to the

sidewalk in front of her and walked at a quick pace.

“Do the other girls in Edward’s life make you jealous?”

“How’s the sex?” another yelled. She bit her lip. Paparazzi were known to say some pretty crude and disturbing things

hoping to get a rise out of people. She said nothing and continued on.

“How’s it feel to be a second rate author?”

“I hear early reviews of your film suck.”

“I have pictures of Edward getting a blowjob in England, wanna see?”

“He was caught in a strip joint. I’ve got pictures!”

“He’s screwing around. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

In five minutes she was walking up a long winding driveway. She knocked on the door, glad the paparazzi had enough

brains not to trespass. Jim opened the door with Cole standing by his side, wide awake and smiling. She saw Diane holding

her daughter in the living room. The little girl was screaming at the top of her lungs about the monster.

“Hi, sweetie, are you ready?” she asked Cole.

He smiled. “I’m ready, Mommy. I missed you!”

“I missed you, too!”

“Sorry about this,” Jim said, looking embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Jim looked past her towards the media vans that had followed her to the end of his driveway. “Uh, maybe I should walk

you both home.”

“We’ll be fine.”

He looked unsure. “I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t get used to having every bit of privacy and simple human

freedom taking away.”

“Thanks a lot, Jim,” she said dryly.

He chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Bye, guys. Let’s go, buddy,” Dana said. Cole high fived Jim and grabbed his mother’s hand. They walked down the

driveway.

“Are they going to take our picture again?” He pointed to the paparazzi that were going nuts now.

“I’m afraid so.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay, Grandma says I’m very cute.”

She laughed. “You most certainly are.”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“Sleeping.”

“He snores like a bear, Mommy,” Cole said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, just hold my hand and don’t let go.”

He nodded and tightened his little hand in hers as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

“Edward let’s you walk by yourself at night, doesn’t he love you?”

“What are you going to tell him when he’s older? Are you going to tell him you chased off his father?”

“I hear you won’t let his father see him.”

“His father doesn’t want him, you must be a real bitch.”

“Mommy?” Cole said, nervously.

“It’s okay, honey. Ignore them.”

“Why do you let them call Edward daddy knowing he doesn’t want them?”

“I heard Edward say your kids were brats.”

“Hey, kiddo, are you going to be okay when Edward leaves?”

She heard Cole start crying. “It’s okay, baby,” she said, trying to get him to walk faster.

“I just got word that Edward is moving out.”

Cole stopped short on the sidewalk and looked up at Dana with tears streaming down his face. “Daddy’s leaving?”

“No honey, they’re lying.”

“I’ll be good I promise!” he began to wail.

“Shhh. Cole, Daddy isn’t going anywhere.”

“No! They said he’s leaving!” He pointed at the mass of paparazzi. "I don't want daddy to leave! I'll be good!"

She went to put her arms around him, but he pushed away from her and ran. She ran after him only to watch him trip and

fall down. The next second he was screaming bloody murder. Dana rolled him over. Cole’s hands were bleeding. She looked

down his body, thankful for once for the bright lights their cameras produced that allowed her to see that his pants were torn.

His knees were skinned badly and bleeding.

She tried to pick him up. He pushed away from her kicking and screaming in a full tantrum like nothing she’d ever seen

from him before. “Daddy! I want Daddy!”

Chapter 14

The house phone ringing woke Edward. He reached out blindly and picked up the phone. “Hello?” he said groggily.

“Hey, Edward, it's Jim. I’m just calling to make sure they got back safely.”

“What?” Edward asked confused.

“Dana and Cole, aren’t they there?”

Edward’s eyes shot open he looked around. “Dana?” he yelled. No answer.

“No, they’re not here.”

“Oh no, Edward, they left here twenty minutes ago.”

“Shit!” Edward said.

“They were walking.” Jim said.

“Thanks, Jim.” Edward hung up and saw her note on the couch next to him. “Damn it, Dana.” She should have woken him

up. When he got his hands on her he was going to spank her ass. He opened the door and ran down the driveway onto the

sidewalk, ignoring the paparazzi that waited for him.

About twenty yards ahead of him on the sidewalk was another large group of reporters. They were having a field day with

something. He could hear a child screaming. It was Cole, he realized. His little boy's screams made him run faster. He saw

Dana kneeling over him.

Edward dropped to his knees in front of Cole. The little boy’s eyes were closed. “Daddy!” he screamed. "I want my

daddy!"

“I’m right here, Cole.” Edward said.

Cole’s eyes shot open and he practically jumped into Edward’s arms. He stood up with Cole firmly attached to him. He

reached back and grabbed Dana’s hand. They made their way back home with Cole sobbing hysterically into his neck.

Edward watched silently as Dana cleaned and kissed every scrape on Cole’s little body. He was so exhausted from